SURPRISE, Ariz. (Feb. 18, 2023) — Broc Mortensen hit his first home run of the season, and Matt Ager struck out 10 batters over six innings in his first collegiate start, but UC Santa Barbara Baseball (1-1, 0-0 Big West) fell, 3-1 to New Mexico (2-0, 0-0 Mountain West) in the second game of the Sanderson Ford Classic in Arizona Saturday night. A three-run third inning was all the Lobos needed, sticking Ager with a tough loss. New Mexico's Tristin Lively earned the win.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The sophomore Ager had a great first two innings, giving up only a two-out walk in the first and striking out the side in the second before running into trouble in the third. After giving up a lead-off walk, he allowed the runner to advance to second on a failed pickoff attempt. A single and another walk later and it was bases loaded, one out. New Mexico's best hitter drove in two with a single to left center, and a wild pitch from Ager a batter later made it 3-0.

But after that, the sophomore settled right back in, striking out two Lobos in a row to get out of the third. Ager got around a lead-off triple in the fourth thanks to some heads-up defense from first baseman LeTrey McCollum and got through the fifth facing only three batters. He set down the side in order in the sixth, finishing the frame with a pair of backwards K's to bring his total to a career-high 10 in the game.

The only problem for the Gauchos was New Mexico pitcher Tristin Lively. Santa Barbara recorded only four hits in the six innings Lively pitched, and only one was for extra bases — a two-out double from McCollum in the third. The Gauchos only got on the board after Lively left the game. Right after the seventh inning stretch, Broc Mortensen did what he does best, launching a deep fly ball over the wall in straightaway center field to give his squad their first run of the night.

While Mortensen's homer would turn out to be Santa Barbara's only run, it didn't look that way in the ninth. Zander Darby singled through the left side to lead off the final inning, then scampered to second on a passed ball. That brought last season's Big West home run king, Mortensen, back to the plate. He grounded out to second, as did Nick Oakley behind him, and that was that.

ON THE STAT SHEET
• Matt Ager's final line from his first collegiate start was 6 innings, 3 runs (all earned) on four hits and three walks, with 10 strikeouts. He set career highs in both innings pitched and strikeouts, but was credited with what ESPN calls a "tough loss," that is a loss by a pitcher who completes a quality start (6 or more innings pitched, 3 or fewer earned runs)
• Broc Mortensen led the Gauchos at the plate, going 2-4 with his seventh-inning home run. LeTrey McCollum was the only other Gaucho to go for extra bases, finishing 1-3 with a double, a walk, and a stolen base
• Alex Schrier and Nick Welch handled the final three innings after Ager's night was finished. Schrier recorded a pair of strikeouts in as many innings, and Welch worked a perfect ninth, including two K's of his own

UP NEXT
The Gauchos play their third game of the Sanderson Ford Classic Sunday night, taking on the Minnesota Golden Gophers at 4 p.m. PST. In Friday's season opener, UC Santa Barbara earned their first ever win over the team from the Big Ten, 9-7, behind Nick Oakley and Ivan Brethowr's big nights at the plate. A live radio broadcast of Sunday's game will be available on ucsbgauchos.com. The game will also be live streamed on FloBaseball, which requires a subscription to watch.